Manufacturer: York & Front | Price: $590 USD (€535 EUR, £460 GBP approx)
I first spotted Y&F’s Burrard field watch while scrolling through Instagram. My initial reaction was I had to investigate the watch further. York & Front isn’t a company I was aware of, but the watch still jumped out at me for reasons I cannot explain. After browsing their website, I decided to reach out and see if they would send out a sample for me to review. Around a week later the Burrard landed at my frontdoor, and I have to say, first impressions are excellent. It’s not the type of watch that I would normally go for, but there is just something about the Y&F Burrard that makes me want to wear it.
Specifications
- Dimensions: Case Diameter – 37.9mm, Thickness – 11.6mm, Lug to Lug – 43.9mm, Lug Width – 20mm
- Movement: Sellita SW200-1 Automatic, 28,800vph (4Hz), Hackable, Self Winding, 38hr Power Reserve
- Case Material: Brushed 316L Stainless Steel with Polished Accents, Drilled Lugs
- Strap: Genuine Leather, Brushed Hardware with Polished Accents, Signed Buckle, Quick-Release Pins
- Crystal: Boxed Sapphire, Underside Anti-Reflective Coating
- Bezel: Fixed, Polished
- Water Resistance: 10ATM / 100m / 330ft
- Lume: Swiss Super Luminova® BGW9
- Crown: Signed, Screw Down Caseback: Solid, Screw Down, Deep Stamped Y&F Logo, Unique Serial No
- Warranty: 2 Years Where to Buy: York & Front Watch Company
- Dial Colour: Black, White Strap: Black or Brown Leather
York & Front - The Company
For York & Front, it all began as a conversation between two friends about the perfect watch, a watch with classical, elegant, old-world design elements with the robustness of a modern-day timepiece. A casual chat soon turned into a more focused, more ambitious conversation. “What if we could bring our vision of the ideal watch to life and share it with enthusiasts all over?” Perhaps this is a story that is far too common, but it does not dilute their excitement and passion for creating timepieces that embody all of the things they love about the world of horology.
Their goal when designing and building their watches, they not only wanted to create timepieces that pay tribute to those of yesteryear, but are engineered with the highest modern precision and reliability. They understand that a watch isn’t just a tool to tell time, they must have emotional and philosophical qualities as well. With this in mind, they look to their company’s roots in both Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, to enfuse their watches with the rugged and care free spirit of the west coast and the sophistication and elegance of the big cities in the east.
Case & Crown
The Burrard has a water resistance rating of 100m / 10 ATM even although it has a screw down caseback & crown. The proportions of the watch, in my opinion, are fantastic for my 7″ wrist, even although you would think the Burrard would wear small due to the case diameter. However, the Burrard wears more like a 39/40mm due to the bezel giving the dial more real estate. The crown is also superb and looks fantastic with its stamped Y&F logo, there is also absolutely zero wobble when the crown is pulled out at any position. The caseback is also nicely done with its deep stamped Y&F logo.
Strap
The strap that comes with the Burrard is of a very good quality leather. It is rather soft and won’t take any time to break in as it’s extremely comfortable straight out of the box. The stitching is nice & neat all round and there are 2 matching keepers. The signed buckle itself is one of the nicest I’ve seen, with its mainly brushed finish with small polished accents.
Movement
Dial, Bezel & Lume
As you can see in the images, the hour and minute hands are very nicely done with their black ion plating. The seconds hand is great too, done with the same black ion plating with it’s lumed arrowhead section half way down the hand followed by a red section that reaches all the way out to the minute track. The lume used on the Burrard is Super Luminova® BGW9. As you’ll see in the lume shot below, the hands themselves have plenty of lume, it’s just a shame that the lumed hour dots aren’t as bright or as long lasting.
Conclusion
As most of you would agree, no watch is perfect and it’s the same conclusion I come to with regards to the York & Front Burrard. However, you might be shocked to hear, but I actually like this watch a LOT! Yes, I’d prefer it if it was just under $500 but price aside I really think the Burrard would make a fantastic everyday watch.
You might think that the watch is a little plain, but it’s the small but very nice details and touches that all add up and make me think that this really is an excellent watch from York & Front. All said and done, in my opinion, I personally would have this Y&F Burrard over say, the very popular Seiko SARB035.
Given the choice over the black or this white version of the Burrard, I’d opt for the white one due to the fact the case is quite small at 38mm, so the white dial will wear on wrist, or give the illusion at least, of being slightly bigger.
York & Front – A very nice first watch, the attention to detail, the finishing, choice of movement are all superb. Great job!
